School Board Approves Salary Increase for Superintendent

[Woody Calleri]

On Monday our school board once again approved raises for both our Superintendent and Treasurer without releasing their full contracts and compensation details. As a result, stakeholders were not able to review and comment on them.

This appears to continue a practice of using closed executive sessions to increase administrators’ pay. This is especially disappointing given several of the School Board’s other recent financial decisions such as reducing our music staff and not fully funding the construction budget for the music department.

Please note that I am not commenting one way or the other on the contract or the amount of compensation. However, it is my belief that the School Board needs to end the back room deals and fully disclose all details of compensation packages. This is a matter of public trust and honesty with the Lakewood taxpayers.

If the School Board is confident that Mr. Patterson has to be paid over $260,000 to remain in our district then they should come out and tell the Lakewood taxpayers that. However, based on past conversations I have had with board members, I know that not only are they aware of what they are doing but that they are doing this solely because they are worried that residents will get angry if the information is made available. That is not how a school board, or any board, should be run.

In an effort to fully inform and educate the citizens of Lakewood I have put together a rough outline of the Lakewood Superintendent’s contract below. The numbers are rounded to make the math easier. A full copy of the 2013 contract (without the West Shore portion) can be found on my website http://www.calleriforschoolboard.info/S ... mation.cfm. I will post the updated contract as soon as they send it to me.

As you can see total compensation is well above the $173,353 salary figure the School Board speaks to.

Gregory “Woody” Calleri – Candidate For School Board

Follow my candidacy on Twitter (@Calleri4SB) and FB (facebook.com/CallerForSchoolBoard)


Superintendents Contract

• $143,000* Base pay for Lakewood
• $30,000* Pay for West Shore Career Tech
$173,000 What is called salary by the School Board

• $19,300* Payment from the district to a separate 401K (separate from SERS)
• $2,800* Superintendents share of FICA (Medicaid) – paying his taxes
• $19,500* 10% SERS “pick up” of paying Superintendents share of SERS retirement contribution.
• $19,000## Converted vacation days at adjusted per diem
• $27,000 SERS payment for district portion requirement
$260,600 Total cash compensation

Other benefits Family medical insurance (includes dental, prescription, vision, hospitalization), 40 vacation days, 5 essential business days, life insurance policy, all professional fees / memberships, 10 days paid family leave, 15 sick days (cash in at 1/4 ratio) $3,000 for professional development.

* It is written in the contract that this is to count for the purposes of calculating retirement benefits.

## Per diem - Contract states “per diem is total compensation including retirement pickups, annuity compensation, and supplemental contract by 227 days” not 250 contract year.

[Michael Deneen]

I'm not one to bash the schools, but this is a very bad look...especially in light of cutbacks to the district's esteemed music program.

[Lori Allen _]

Mr. Calleri,

Thank you for this post and for the information. I had no idea about this.

Below are the top ten suburbs for education, according to Cleveland Magazine and the base salary of their respective superintendents as of 2014:

1. Solon: $138,000
2. Rocky River: $ 160,000
3. Hudson: $134,000
4. Orange Village: $ 145,000
5. Chagrin Falls: $ 136,000
6. Beachwood: $ 140,000
7. Bath: $ 111,000
8. Westlake: $ 148,000
9. Brecksville/Broadview: $ 155,000
10. Aurora: $ 125,000

I also recall a study done by Cleveland.com last year which I believe named Mr. Patterson as the highest-paid superintendent in the area.

I believe that everyone should be paid a fair wage. However, with the economy being the way it is, most Lakewoodites live on a budget. I feel that City Hall and the schools should do the same.

I will agree with Mike that this does not look good considering the music program controversy. I feel that this money could have been utilized to retain or hire an extra music teacher or two. When my child attended Lakewood schools, I felt the music program was wonderful.


My intention is not to single out Mr. Patterson, as I do not know him that well personally and am sure he is a good person.

FWIW.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Please note that I am not commenting one way or the other on the contract or the amount of compensation. However, it is my belief that the School Board needs to end the back room deals and fully disclose all details of compensation packages. This is a matter of public trust and honesty with the Lakewood taxpayers.

If the School Board is confident that Mr. Patterson has to be paid over $260,000 to remain in our district then they should come out and tell the Lakewood taxpayers that.

Woody

I wanted to bring up a couple things.

1) I think are reading your post wrong, it would seem that you, and I believe this to be
correct are faulting the "negotiators" of the contract, not the recipient. That this is not a
complaint over successful negotiations, but a call to the leadership for explanations.

Correct?

2) There is much back and forth here on the Deck as you know. You can post, pontificate,
make accusations, post your understandings, even share photos and songs, but in this
mosh pit of word jazz we call the deck, it is also great if you answer questions when asked.

Which brings me to number...

3) Thread drift is a major problem here on the Deck. Most of us have gotten used to it as
it is also the way real conversation works. Segues are for amateurs, but it gets even more
confusing, when someone posts the same topic in multiple forums. So at some point these
two discussions will be joined.

I love it when people, especially public people come in and take part. Thank you.

You offer a unique look at this through the eyes of; a resident, father, businessman,
director of sports programs, past candidate for School Board, and your ability with
numbers and finance.

I look forward to your answers and posts in the coming years.

.

[Matthew Lee]

Hi Woody,

Just a personal pet peeve of mine but you used an acronym in your post without defining it first (or if you did define, I missed it). What is SERS?

Thanks!

[Phil Florian]

On the one hand I do want more transparency from our Board when it comes to salary and contract issues, especially when I am hearing about so many cuts at the direct line level.

That said, Woody's post compares apples and oranges with the post by Lori. Her numbers were base salary and not the "total compensation" that Woody used. This is not an administrator making $263k when all others are making $140k or lower. If our guy was on Lori's list he would be listed as making $143k for City of Lakewood which puts him in the middle of that pack. The additional $30k is for overseeing an entirely separate program that serves not only Lakewood children but children from many other west side suburbs. Considering this it does not seem like his base salary (as using Lori's list) is much beyond what other local Superintendents are getting.

I am sure if you adjust for "total compensation" Lori's list would look significantly different.

Regardless, I do like the alleged business practice that when in tough times and there are to be cuts a good leader is the first to take them.


SERS is the School Employee Retirement System.

[Woody Calleri]

Jim

Thank you for your questions. I have answered them to the best of my ability.

You are correct that the issue I have is with the School Board and the negotiators of the contract. This is not a commentary on Mr. Patterson's or on how his is doing his job. Rather a commentary on how the School Board is handling things. The contract and their actions are especially concerning given the cuts to the music program and staff.

I promise to be more diligent about responding to follow up questions within 24 hours. That is the rule I use in my business and I will make the same commitment here.

Finally, I will work to post the topic only in one area. I posted it under the General tab and under Schools so that it would reach a larger audience. I will pick one or the other in the future.


Sincerely,

Gregory "Woody" Calleri - Candidate for School Board
http://www.calleriforschoolboard.info
Twitter - @Calleri4SB
FB - CalleriForSchoolBoard

[Woody Calleri]

Hi Woody,

Just a personal pet peeve of mine but you used an acronym in your post without defining it first (or if you did define, I missed it). What is SERS?

Thanks!

No problem. Sorry I left out that piece of information. SERS stands for "School Employees Retirement System". Their website is http://ohsers.org/


Gregory "Woody" Calleri - Candidate for School Board
http://www.calleriforschoolboard.info
Twitter - @Calleri4SB
FB - CalleriForSchoolBoard

[Woody Calleri]

[quote="Phil Florian"]On the one hand I do want more transparency from our Board when it comes to salary and contract issues, especially when I am hearing about so many cuts at the direct line level.

That said, Woody's post compares apples and oranges with the post by Lori. Her numbers were base salary and not the "total compensation" that Woody used. This is not an administrator making $263k when all others are making $140k or lower. If our guy was on Lori's list he would be listed as making $143k for City of Lakewood which puts him in the middle of that pack. The additional $30k is for overseeing an entirely separate program that serves not only Lakewood children but children from many other west side suburbs. Considering this it does not seem like his base salary (as using Lori's list) is much beyond what other local Superintendents are getting.

I am sure if you adjust for "total compensation" Lori's list would look significantly different.

Regardless, I do like the alleged business practice that when in tough times and there are to be cuts a good leader is the first to take them.


Mr. Florian

You are correct that I am using total compensation, while Ms. Allen is using salary which in some ways is apples to oranges.

This is at the heart of my complaint about how the School Board is reporting compensation. They use salary ($143,000 or $173,000 depending on if you include West Shore Career Tech). However, the actual compensation number is either $87,000 or $117,000 higher at $260,000.

It is my belief that the School Board needs to be more transparent about how they are spending our money especially given the cuts being made in other areas.

For more info on how our compensation compares to other areas I found the following Plain Dealer articles:

This one, based on salary with/West Shore, shows Lakewood spending the most of the area school systems surveyed:
www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heights/ind ... ntend.html

This one, based on total compensation, also shows Lakewood spending the most of area school systems:
http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... eff_p.html


Sincerely,

Gregory "Woody" Calleri - Candidate for School Board
www.calleriforschoolboard.info
Twitter - @Calleri4SB
FB - CalleriForSchoolBoard

[Amy Martin]

we need to get rid of the entire school board for rubber-stamping every spending issue that comes across their conference table.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - STOP THE INSANITY

[Bill Call]

Just another example why it's a good idea to have an independent mind on the School Board. Or any board for that matter.

Most boards are made up of people who think the same thoughts, say the same things and belong to the same Clubs. They aren't just shocked when someone expresses a different opinion, they are shocked that there is a different opinion.

[Bridget Conant]

Most boards are made up of people who think the same thoughts, say the same things and belong to the same Clubs. They aren't just shocked when someone expresses a different opinion, they are shocked that there is a different opinion.

That seems to be the case throughout Lakewood - it's not just the School Board, it's city government, the LHA, and the various "committees" that exist.

Groupthink.

[Missy Limkemann]

I am Chair of a city board and I can tell you that my board does not have people who think the same. We all have things in common, but we don't agree on the same things. it is nice to hear other sides, to come to a compromise. but we are the rogue board and i do my own thing despite what i am supposed to do. (i am a rebel and no one will change that!!!!)

[Bridget Conant]

Good for you, Missy, and thank you! It's good to hear other opinions. City boards need a variety of residents so that they truly reflect the city demographics.

[Phil Florian]

For more info on how our compensation compares to other areas I found the following Plain Dealer articles:

This one, based on salary with/West Shore, shows Lakewood spending the most of the area school systems surveyed:
http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heig ... ntend.html

This one, based on total compensation, also shows Lakewood spending the most of area school systems:
http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... eff_p.html


Sincerely,

Gregory "Woody" Calleri - Candidate for School Board
http://www.calleriforschoolboard.info
Twitter - @Calleri4SB
FB - CalleriForSchoolBoard

Thanks for the links! I like the first list but like you said it shows just salary and while Patterson is high, taking into account the fact he oversees two school programs doesn't put him way out of orbit with others (as example, I would assume Rocky River Superintendent is paid nearly as much without the second tier responsibility). The second link repeats your information on total compensation but does not compare to other numbers (that I could see) only that it is the most. I like total comp numbers but I doubt the other costs are much different than other districts in terms of benefits, etc.

Are people mad at the board for approving this salary or the City of Lakewood who continues to support tax increases? I ask because on the first list the lower paid superintendents are, at least in some cases, in districts where they can't pass a levy to save their lives.

Also, of that extra $30k per year for the West Shore Tech how much of that comes from Lakewood levy and how much comes from what I assume are fees from the students sent from other school districts? They cannot just come to our schools for free, do they? Take away that $30k from strictly Lakewood coffers that puts Patterson closer to the upper middle of the pack and not the top dog.

Just a thought.